The present invention relates to a steering column cover structure of an automotive vehicle equipped with a steering column covering a steering column
An acceleration pedal of a pedal device of an automotive vehicle is, differently from a clutch pedal or a brake pedal which are operated with a relatively large press force, required to be operated with a relatively small press force so as to provide a desirable vehicle speed, keeping a press angle of the pedal (press face) properly. Accordingly, there have been problems described below in a vehicle head-on collision.
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9, when a vehicle V collides against an obstacle α in a vehicle collision, such as an oblique or offset collision, a vehicle body tends to move rotating around the obstacle α as illustrated with a two-dotted broken line in this figure, and a passenger M in a vehicle compartment tends to move in a traveling direction of the vehicle V (prior to the vehicle collision) due to the inertia. In this case, since the passenger M tends to move obliquely relative to the vehicle body, there is a concern that a foot Mf of the passenger M pressing an acceleration pedal 104 with a relatively small press force may slip off a press face of the acceleration pedal 104 due to the collision acceleration in the vehicle head-on collision.
If the foot Mf slips off the acceleration pedal 104 described above, there may occur some problems in that the foot Mf moves to an inappropriate position for the best impact absorption or a position of the foot Mf becomes abnormal so that some load is applied to the foot Mf improperly.
Meanwhile, a so-called organ type of pedal which moves forward substantially horizontally or slants through a press operation of a press face thereof is known as a pedal device of an automotive vehicle. This organ type of pedal, a press face of which moves obliquely forward and downward through the press operation by a passenger, has a feature that a press point on the press face may not change improperly without moving a heel of the passenger. Accordingly, the organ type of pedal has an advantage that the press face of the pedal can be more easily adjusted and held by using the heel as a standard, compared to a so-called hanging type of pedal, a press face of which moves obliquely forward and upward through its press operation and which slants in a perpendicular direction to a floor face.
This organ type of pedal, however, has problems similar to those of the acceleration pedal 104 described above for the following reasons.
Specifically, the organ type of pedal, which is different from the hanging type of pedal, has a feature that the position of its press face approaches the horizontal position as its press operation progresses, so that it becomes difficult to keep the foot properly. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9, when the vehicle V collides against the obstacle α in the head-on collision, the foot pressing the organ type of pedal may improperly slip off the press face and move relatively in the vehicle width direction, which is similar to the case of the acceleration pedal 104.
Meanwhile, a structure in which an impact applied to a knee or chest of the passenger in the vehicle head-on collision can be absorbed by a steering column which covers a steering column is known (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open publication No. 2005-75339).
Further, a structure in which an oblique move of a passenger relative to a vehicle body in the vehicle oblique collision can be restrained by a knee airbag which inflates toward the passenger's knee is known (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open publication No. 2008-120106).
Herein, the above-described patent documents refer to nothing about a problem in that the passenger's foot pressing the pedal slips off the press face of the pedal and move in the vehicle head-on collision, so that this problem of the foot's moving may not be restrained surely by the prior art disclosed in these patent documents.